The present invention relates to a new and distinct Catharanthus plant, botanically known as Catharanthus roseus and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Suncatso 23’.
The new Catharanthus plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new vigorous and freely branching Catharanthus plants with numerous double-type flowers.
The new Catharanthus plant originated from a cross-pollination conducted by the Inventor in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan in September, 2011 of a proprietary selection of Catharanthus roseus identified as code designation S22-P-30, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Catharanthus roseus identified as code designation SIR22-10, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Catharanthus plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan in September, 2013.
Asexual reproduction of the new Catharanthus plant by vegetative tip cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan since December, 2013, has shown that the unique features of this new Catharanthus plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.